A friend recently stated she was “Drowning in Kid Papers”, and I know we all feel that way some days.  So let me lend a hand and pull you out of your paper flood!  

     There are 3 kinds of papers:  Archival, Passive and Active.  Most of those Kid Papers bogging you down are Active Papers.  Active Papers require a next action and soon!  They are items such as permission slips to complete; a party invitation that requires a phone call, and then a trip to the store for a gift; coupons to take shopping and redeem;  and bills to mail, etc. 

     How do we get to Act on these Papers?   Decide on One and Only One place for these papers to live.  In our house, the active papers live on the kitchen desk (our Command Center).  They live in Only One Place because that makes acting on them a lot simpler!   And This One and Only One Place is also where all papers land when they come into our house, either via our mail box, backpacks, work briefcases, etc. 

1. Use the Steps from Julie Morgenstern, Organizing From the Inside Out:

• Sort and Purge – Make purging easy:  What can go now?  Trash?  Shred? Recycle?
•      Complete forms and put right back in the backpack (we keep envelopes and small $$ in the desk drawer)
•      File school papers right away. 
• Sort the rest into Active, Passive and Archival papers
•       Put away passive and archival immediately
•       These are Active papers, so sort them by action:  Calls to make, Forms to complete.  Or, Sort them by when you want to Act on them, By Day:  I have a file for each day, so if I have calls to make, I’ll tuck all those reminders in this week’s Thursday file, when I know I will have an hour at home to make the calls.  Or, The Best idea:  Act on them RIGHT NOW, if you can, and move them along.
• Assign a Home / Containerize:  Have a work space the whole family knows about, and if it tends to be a kitchen counter, so be it.
• Equalize (Means Maintenance):  Regular maintenance is vital to any paper management system, so plan to act on your Active Papers every day or two, and to look at your Passive Papers every month or two.  Purge the information that is no longer important to you or that is about events and seasons now over.  Every Friday we clean out backpacks and folders, with my sons standing next to me.  We use four categories: Papers for Mom to Act On, Recycle/Toss, File (keep) and Homework to Complete. 

       Here are some examples of files on my kitchen desk, use them as inspiration to create and name your own files:

1. “To File – Child’s Name” files, one for each child. I fill this file during the week as backpacks come home with papers, then file the items in a bin on each child’s closet shelf when I clean house (every week or 2)
2. “Academics – Child’s Name” file, one for each child, for quarterly assessments, certificates, awards, etc. throughout the year.  These become part of their Archival records in their binder.
3. Kids Activities: Current team rosters and contact lists, receipts for paid fees, raffle tickets, etc.
4. Kids (Possible) Activities (for ideas when they come in the back packs or mail)
5. Kids Extra Pix (pictures people give us through the year, extra school photos)
6. Kids Religious Education (handbooks, general information)
7. Kids Music (handbook, repair information, copies of completed sign ups)
8. Kids Gifted Program (handbooks, overviews, resources)
9. Kids Boy Scouts (contact information, handbook and yearly info)
10. Kids Service (ideas for service projects, things to do)
11. Kids School (handbooks, schedules, Principal notes and newsletters, sick child policies)

I also have a file holder on the desk, for general Family files.  All of these are accessible to all family members.

1. Family: Adventures (ideas for places to do and things to do, parking passes, free day passes, etc.)
2. Family: Events (guest lists for RSVPs; info or permission slips from venues, menu and party ideas for upcoming events)
3. Family:  Home Improvements (ideas like paint colors or new front door brochures; active bids for projects, info on a new couch)
4. Family:  Memberships (membership cards and literature for aquarium, zoo, museums, etc.)
5. Family: Menus and coupons (take out and catering menus, along with coupons and such)
6. Family:  Recipes (finally, some place to toss all the recipes I grab out of magazines, in a place where I can actually flip through and try them out!)
7. Family:  Travel (travel info and packing lists for upcoming trips, accessible to me and my hubby, file goes on vacation with us)
8. On a clip above the desk, we have upcoming event information, in reverse chronological order.  These are just for information purposes, Actions have already taken place:
   1. Invitations I have already responded to
   2. Newsletters from the library, with events I have signed up for circled or initialed
   3. forms to be turned in, like registration, with the due date noted on top
   4. Look ahead to tomorrow’s schedule

      Archival Papers are those items worthy of Long Term Storage, For example: mortgage papers, wills, passports, birth certificates, etc., and annual tax papers (for 4-7 years).  We store archival papers in small and movable labeled bins (not too big), file cabinets, or bankers boxes.   Archival Kid papers could be Keepsakes and treasures from each school year.  A great way to store those are Binders (a separate blog published 2/20/2011)

     Passive papers will most likely not be needed or retrieved except for disposal.  We keep them for a pre-determined amount of time and then discard.  Passive Kid Papers include: Completed everyday assignments and art projects; Yearly school handbook; contact lists for teams, or schedules and calendars (after we input the information into our date book / PDA of choice).   Here are a couple of ideas for How to take care of Kid Passive Papers:

1. Short term – Open file holders on the desk or counter top, see above for suggestions 
2. Monthly “Reminder”  files – a file for every month, for upcoming events, reminders, deadlines, etc. more than a month away (birthday party ideas and gift ideas are great to pop into monthly Reminder files).
3. Also, if your young Picasso’s artwork and projects are gumming up the works, keep a few from year to year, or save them all to review in June, after school is over, and have your child pick their top 10.  Or, take a photo of the artwork or project, and print up and keep the photo as a memory (then you can toss the big cumbersome original)

     So, friends, if you, too, feel like you are “drowning in Kid Papers”, consider this your Life Preserver!  Spend a little time setting up your space to manage the deluge, and then spend a little time every day maintaining, or “staying a-float”.   Peace to you – Colleen